Bengals
Before Sunday’s game against the Lions, Bengals HC Zac Taylor was unflinching in his support for QB Jake Browning, both publicly and privately. But after yet another dismal loss and dismal performance from Browning, Taylor was hard-pressed to maintain that level when asked if he still believed in Browning as the starter.
“I do,” he said via the Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. “Of course, after a game like that, we’re going to look at all personnel to make sure we are doing the right thing. I won’t shy away from that because it’s a very fair question after the amount of turnovers we had. To say that I don’t think Jake can win games for us — I believe Jake can win games for us. I do. We’ll just continue to look at everything we can, personnel-wise.”
Browning once again struggled to move the ball outside of garbage time, throwing three picks that put the Bengals in a 28-3 hole. The stadium booed Browning repeatedly but he was his own worst critic in the post-game press conference.
“I threw three picks that were just bad and there’s no hiding from that,” Browning said. “It was just bad football from me … trying to force things that aren’t there and as a result just completely screwing over the team. It hurts, but there’s no way to hide from it. It hurts. I did not play well enough to give us a chance to win. It’s just brutal.”
“I think something like this hurts, and it should, because I care and I want to play better,” Browning added. “I work really hard at this, not that anyone should really care that I work hard or not, as this is a performance-based league, but yeah, it hurts and it should. I feel a great responsibility to get back on track. I think for me, anytime I’m going through something difficult, it’s just double down on work ethic and seeing it all the way through. Whether it gets better or not — that’s to be determined, and that’s the unknown. But it will not be because of lack of effort and lack of dedication to trying to get better and put our team in better situations to win.”
- Taylor took the blame for the offensive struggles without QB Joe Burrow: “I’ve got to be better for this football team. It’s my responsibility … Put this on me. I’ve got to do a better job getting us in a rhythm … need to keep us out of danger.” (Paul Dehner Jr.)
- Taylor thinks they can win with Browning, but said they will look at all options out there regarding personnel. (Kelsey Conway)
Browns
Following a tough 21-17 loss in third-round QB Dillon Gabriel‘s first start, Browns DE Myles Garrett put it on the defense to do more to help the offense.
“Composed, making the plays that we know he can make,” Garrett said, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “He put us in a position to win. We’ve got to help ourselves out.”
Ravens
Baltimore’s defense had another bad outing in the team’s 44-10 loss to the Texans in Week 5. When asked if they need to switch things up with the defensive coaching staff, Ravens HC John Harbaugh shut down any of that talk and expressed their need to stick together through this rough patch.
“I do not think that that’s the answer,” Harbaugh said, via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. “We have to go to work, is what we need to do. We need to stick together, is what we need to do. We need to find ourselves. And that has to do with coaches and players [working] together.”
“We’re going to have to find a way to turn it around and figure out who we are this next week and then into the bye [week]. And after the bye, we’re going to have more than half the season left, and we’re going to have to find ourselves. So that’s what our aim will be going forward.”
- Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer said there’s an “outside shot” Ravens QB Lamar Jackson could return from injury next week, but the bye week after that would allow him to get more time: “I was told there’s an outside shot for next week, so they don’t want to shut it down yet. But the bye is coming after that, obviously. If they decide to (hold) him out next week, then they get three weeks of rest for him, but they’re not saying he’s out yet for next week.”
The post AFC Notes: Jake Browning, Myles Garrett, Bengals, Browns, Ravens appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.